by Alyssa Day
It was the only chance they had.
A high-pitched screaming sent sound waves like rusty nails through his teeth and skull. He whipped his head to the side and saw catastrophe in the making. One of the sides of the unicorns' pen had come down, and the animals had pushed through, kicking and flailing in their terror. Ropes from the cargo’s wooden boxes had tangled around the animals’ feet, and the larger one—the male—was being pulled inexorably to the edge of the deck. His mate was screaming that horrible, visceral sound and trying to block her mate’s slide across the deck.
Dare yanked his dagger out of its sheath and sliced through the rope holding him to the wheel. He had to save them—they didn’t deserve to die for his folly.
He ran across the deck, pushing forward with a combination of bullheaded stubbornness and the practice of long years spent maneuvering his way around the ship. He launched himself through the air for the last few feet and landed flat on the deck, his reaching hands just grasping the end of the rope. He yanked hard, rolled over, and pushed himself to his feet. Then he twisted the rope around his waist to help give him leverage to pull.
Seranth! Turn us into that wave at just the right angle, or we’re done for.
For the first time since he’d known the elemental, the sound of her voice in his mind was tinged with an undercurrent of fear:
I'll do my best, but my best might not be good enough in this instance. If that's the case, please know that my time with you has been a bright spot in millennia of existence.
It's not over yet, he thought at her fiercely, while maintaining his hold on the tangled unicorn and pulling the creature back bit by bit from the edge of the deck.
"We're going to hit!" he shouted, not even sure who was shouting at. Maybe only himself—or maybe Poseidon, who was in charge of the sea and so was ultimately responsible. After all, the sea god should favor the sons of Atlantis, or at least keep an eye out for them. Knowing Poseidon, he was probably drunk in some Olympian Tavern.
Bastard.
The ship hit the wall of water at an angle and – for just a moment—Dare thought they might actually survive it.
Then the rope ripped through his hands, tearing the skin from his palms, and spun him around with the force of its movement. When he turned, he was just in time to see the backsides of the animals as they went over the side.
He didn't even think; he just ran. He leaped up onto the railing, balanced precariously for a second to get a fix on where they were, and then dove into the churning water.
There was no chance he could save them.
There was less chance he could save himself.
But he'd be damned if he wouldn’t try. The current took them immediately and slammed him into the side of the boat. Lights whirled around in spots before his eyes: kaleidoscopes of color alternating with terrifying darkness. He was fighting so hard to catch his breath that he almost didn’t notice the warmth of the blood pouring down the side of his head when he clawed his way out from under the water. He saw the animals, which was a miracle itself, and they were swimming away from him and the foundering ship.
Of course they were. Because they had a lot more sense than he did.
He headed in their direction and managed to catch the end of the female’s trailing rope. The ship loomed large and black behind them, and he realized he might've jumped out of a sinking ship and right into the maelstrom that was sinking it.
He kicked harder until he reached the animals, who were both flailing in the churning water, frantic with fear.
"It's going to be okay," he lied. Nothing was going to be okay ever again, but he didn’t know how to speak unicorn anyway.
Also, he’d quite possibly cracked his skull open, because his mind wasn’t making any sense at all.
Their names. What were their names?
The storm had pounded everything out of his mind, but he forced himself to think, wrapping one arm around the female’s neck…right. English aristocracy. Some book. Ringley? No…
"Bingley. Bingley and Jane. We're going to be okay, guys. Somehow, we're going to be okay."
The storm suddenly, miraculously, began to dissipate. Either Seranth had been successful, or the ocean’s fury was simply worn out from throwing its full force at the ship.
The Luna was limping toward him. Beaten and battered—almost, but not quite, broken. In the startling way of storms at sea, the sky had gone from darkest night back to daylight in the space of minutes. The waves were calming, the wind slowing, and he had the impossible thought that they might actually survive this.
Jane took that moment to kick him squarely in the groin, and he doubled over, gasping and choking when his face hit the water. When his ears quit ringing, he could hear Smitty shouting something at him from the broken side of the deck where the unicorns had gone over.
Dare looked up, still hunched in the water, and Smitty shouted again.
“Okay there, Cap’n?"
"Outstanding,” he managed to yell back. “You want to throw down the dinghy so we can get Bingley and Jane back on board?"
"Right away, sir,” his mate yelled.
"Did you hear that, you rotten nut-kickers? We're going to be okay," he choked out.
The unicorns looked dubious, if that's how you translated eyes rolling in their sockets and frantic hooves flailing. He put a hand over his crotch just in case, but then he had a hard time staying afloat, so he gave up and hoped lightning—or unicorn hooves—didn’t strike twice.
Smitty shouted something else. Dare looked up instead of around, so he only peripherally saw the piece of wood that slammed into the back of his head.
Darkness.
Cold.
Freezing, icy, dark.
Swirling, floating, sinking.
Drowning.
Drowning.
When Dare came to, he was deep, deep beneath the surface. His survival instinct’s first instinct was to breathe, which was a horrible mistake. He choked and tried to force water out of his mouth and nose but it was impossible.
He couldn't see any light, he didn't know which was up and which was down, and even with superior Atlantean lung capabilities, he was pretty damn sure he was going to be dead in about the next five seconds. Even if the ship had been able to wait around for him, he’d never be able to reach it.
There was only one thing left to do, and luckily he knew how to do it, underwater or not.
He focused his mind and called for the Atlantean portal, which had been the only means of transport to the surface during the eleven thousand years Atlantis had been sunk beneath the seas.
I need you now.
The faint glow that heralded the portal’s arrival began to manifest in front of him, but it was another case of too little, too late. Even the magic of Atlantis couldn't save him now. He tried to hang on—lungs bursting, head pounding with pain—but his vision of the swirling portal was narrowing to a point of light in the far distance. The lack of air was crushing his lungs. His last thought before the dark claimed him was that he only had one regret about dying.
He’d wanted to see Lyric one more time.
Buy Christmas in Atlantis
Books by Alyssa
THE TIGER’S EYE MYSTERY SERIES:
Dead Eye
Private Eye
Travelling Eye (a short story)
Evil Eye (coming in 2018)
POSEIDON’S WARRIORS SERIES:
Halloween in Atlantis
Christmas in Atlantis
January in Atlantis
February in Atlantis
March in Atlantis
April in Atlantis
May in Atlantis
June in Atlantis
July in Atlantis
August in Atlantis
September in Atlantis
October in Atlantis
November in Atlantis
December in Atlantis
THE CARDINAL WITCHES SERIES:
Alejandro’s Sorceress (a novella)
> William’s Witch (a short story)
Damon’s Enchantress (a novella)
Jake’s Djinn (a short story in the Second Chances anthology, to be available in 2018 as a standalone)
THE WARRIORS OF POSEIDON SERIES:
Atlantis Rising
Wild Hearts in Atlantis (a novella; originally in the WILD THING anthology)
Atlantis Awakening
Shifter’s Lady (a novella; originally in the SHIFTER anthology)
Atlantis Unleashed
Atlantis Unmasked
Atlantis Redeemed
Atlantis Betrayed
Vampire in Atlantis
Heart of Atlantis
Alejandro’s Sorceress (a related novella; begins the Cardinal Witches spinoff series)
SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS
Random
Second Chances
NONFICTION
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About the Author
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Alyssa Day is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty novels filled with kissing, laughter, mystery and magic. Alyssa’s paranormal series include the Poseidon’s Warriors and Cardinal Witches paranormal romances and the Tiger’s Eye Mysteries paranormal mysteries. In an Alyssa Day book, the good guys (and gals!) always win and happily ever after always prevails!
Alyssa's many awards include Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award for outstanding romance fiction, and the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance novel of 2012. She's a recovering trial lawyer who loves life outside of a courtroom. Her books have been translated into a zillion languages but she’s still holding out for Klingon.
You can hang out with her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/AuthorAlyssaDay), Twitter (@alyssa_day), where she talks about her rescue dogs and her future pug ranch, and her blog, where she talks openly about her struggles with depression and hosts Mental Health Check In Fridays (www.alyssaday.com/blog). Love talking about books? Be a DayDreamer! Join Alyssa’s VERY SPECIAL group for super fans for fun chatting, sneak peeks, prizes, and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DayDreamersAlyssaDay.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental
January in Atlantis Copyright © 2018 by Alesia Holliday
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